Welcome to the 21st century. The Cold War, WWII, and WWI are over.The 19th and 20th centuries' class conflicts and colonial issues are behind us. "Oppressed proletariat" and "European expansionism" are no longer relevant. Religious fanatics want their beliefs to rule the world. Free people want to stay that way. Here's my view of the 21st century's great conflict -

North and South Korea Engage in Dialog

Write leaflets that aren't complimentary of Dear Leader and our government

Send them into our territory

South Korea: No.

South Korea's government stopped making anti-North Korea propaganda, but South Korea also has something called freedom of speech, which allows citizens to be annoying.

I don't think that North Korean leaders were soothed by a South Korean general talking about a pre-emptive strike against North Korea's nuclear facilities, or by the escape of a North Korean soldier into South Korea.

The soldier says that he started thinking about what to do with his life, looked at North Korea, looked at South Korea, and defected.

North Korea reacted to the general's idea with the sort of calm, thoughtful, statement we've come to expect. The North Korean military released this statement, through the official Korean Central News Agency: "the puppet authorities had better remember that the advanced pre-emptive strike of our own style will reduce everything opposed to the nation and reunification to debris, not just setting them on fire."

The CNN article that gave that quote didn't say, but my guess is that the puppet master of the "puppet authorities" is imperialistic, militaristic, America.

Syria: Americans Attack Farm, Kill Completely Innocent People

Syria's version of reality is that Americans illegally attached a totally innocent farm, killing:

Four members of one family

One guard at the farm

The guard's wife

Some guy who was fishing nearby

Last year, Syria claimed, at various times, that Israeli jets made an unprovoked attack on

An unused military building

An agricultural research station.

Nothing but sand

Nothing at all: There was no attack

This time around, Syria showed reporters a grainy video and a few bits and pieces of people to prove their point.

The American version of the event isn't all that different. Quite unofficially, the account is that an Iraqi called "Abu Ghadiya" was the target. His family apparently has been smuggling money, weapons and foreign fighters from Syria into Iraq.

The Syrian foreign minister said: "This is lies from the United States," (CNN) which shouldn't surprise anybody.

Killing Innocent People? Hiding Behind Innocent People?

I don't doubt that innocent people could have been killed in the attack. On the other hand, I do doubt, very much, that American officers sent helicopters and soldiers to shoot up an innocent, harmless, farm on a whim.

The American raid has already caused a diplomatic ruckus, since it seems to have been staged in Iraq, on a Syrian target.

An Iraqi spokesman said that he didn't want the incident to affect Syrian-Iraqi relations. He also said that 13 Iraqi policemen had been killed recently: in Iraq, by terrorists based in Syria.

That "farm" could really have been a farm, with a family living on it. It could also have been a base for smugglers.

Hiding behind innocents seems to be a regional tradition. Palestinian 'national liberation movements' have an established habit of hiding military equipment in people's houses, and using the residences as launching platforms. Then, when the Israeli military deals with the threat, the Jews are called terrorists. And, as a sort of bonus, the 'national liberation movements' have holy martyrs.

I think its disgusting, but I've been told that other cultures have alternative ways of dealing with the world.

I also think that, if Syria wants fewer 'innocent farms' to be attacked, Syria should stop providing land for terrorist bases.

Americas Interests.blog
an Australian's perspective
(on January 29, 2009 the author announced the end of new posts, and explained his reasons for doing so. He is, however, keeping the 21 months of accumulated posts on line, because of "the role that it plays in a larger ecosystem of information" - I recommend AI as an archival resource. )

Blog 4 Human Rights: Human Rights in Georgia (the nation)
News, Opinions, Videos and Photos (Why blogroll this? Georgia is about 10% Muslim, very near the Middle East: and human rights is a critical part of the War on Terror.)

Defenders Council of Vermont
"...our mission is to educate the citizens of Vermont about the nature, reality and threat of radical Islam, deepen Vermonters' understanding of America's heritage, honor the men and women of the armed services and their families, and support the efforts of others to help our armed forces work with local populations in foreign lands."

DefenseLink Blogger's Roundtable
provides source material for stories in the blogosphere concerning the Department of Defense (DoD) by bloggers and online journalists.

FactCheck.org "aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics". It's "a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania". From what I've seen, this non-partisan website must be quite annoying to all sides

Islamic Circle of North America
"... to seek the pleasure of Allah (SWT) through the struggle of Iqamat-ud-Deen (establishment of the Islamic system of life) as spelled out in the Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)"

Islamic Society of Central Florida (ISCF)
"...an organization which strives to serve the greater Central Florida community by catering to the social, religious, and educational needs of its Muslim inhabitants."

Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center
A research resource for United States Air Force Air University students, "provided as a public service by Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center and the Maxwell Support Division."

Muslims Against Sharia An organization of Muslims, presumably dedicated "...to educate non-Muslims about the differences between moderate Muslims and Islamists..." - with a curious way of practicing Peace, Love Light, (words in their website's logo).

1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.

The Blogger

Brian, aka Aluwir, aka Nanoc, aka Norski
I'm a married guy, over 50, with four kids in a small central Minnesota town. Despite what's in my Blogger profile's "Interests" section, I'm only interested in three things:

* What exists in the universe
* What exists beyond
* What might exist

My background in history; a checkered work history, and guardedly hopeful attitude toward human goofiness, is off the fiftieth percentile: whether above, below, or to the side, I'm not sure.

It's a different perspective: and one which I believe sets this blog apart from most blogs dealing with this conflict.